3. TABEL OF CONTENT
1. INTRODUCTION.
2. TOP 10 LEADERSHIP
QUALITY.
3. FIVE LEADERSHIP QUALITY.
4. WHAT MAKES A GOOD
LEADER.
5. LEADERSHIP STYLE.
6. PRESPECTIVE.
7.CONCLUSION.
4. • LEADERSHIP can be defined as one's ability to get
others to willingly follow. Every organization needs leaders at
every level. Leaders can be found and nurtured if you look for
the following character traits.
• A leader with vision has a clear, vivid picture of where to go,
as well as a firm grasp on what success looks like and how
to achieve it. But it’s not enough to have a vision; leaders
must also share it and act upon it.
• A leader must be able to communicate his or her vision in terms that
cause followers to buy into it. He or she must communicate clearly and
passionately, as passion is contagious.
5. • Integrity is the integration of outward actions and inner values. A person of
integrity is the same on the outside and on the inside. Such an individual can
be trusted because he or she never veers from inner values, even when it
might be expeditious to do so. A leader must have the trust of followers and
therefore must display integrity.
•Dedication means spending whatever time or energy is necessary to
accomplish the task at hand. A leader inspires dedication by example, doing
whatever it takes to complete the next step toward the vision. By setting an
excellent example, leaders can show followers that there are no nine-to-five
jobs on the team, only opportunities to achieve something great
6. • Honest dealings, predictable reactions, well-controlled emotions, and an
absence of tantrums and harsh outbursts are all signs of integrity. A leader who
is centered in integrity will be more approachable by followers.
•Magnanimity means giving credit where it is due. A magnanimous leader
ensures that credit for successes is spread as widely as possible throughout
the company. Conversely, a good leader takes personal responsibility for
failures. This sort of reverse magnanimity helps other people feel good about
themselves and draws the team closer together. To spread the fame and take
the blame is a hallmark of effective leadership
7. • Leaders with humility recognize that they are no better or worse than other
members of the team. A humble leader is not self-effacing but rather tries to
elevate everyone. Leaders with humility also understand that their status does
not make them a god. Mahatma Gandhi is a role model for Indian leaders, and
he pursued a “follower-centric” leadership role.
•Openness means being able to listen to new ideas, even if they do not
conform to the usual way of thinking. Good leaders are able to suspend
judgment while listening to others’ ideas, as well as accept new ways of doing
things that someone else thought of. Openness builds mutual respect and trust
between leaders and followers, and it also keeps the team well supplied with
new ideas that can further its vision.
8. •Creativity is the ability to think differently, to get outside of the box that
constrains solutions. Creativity gives leaders the ability to see things that others
have not seen and thus lead followers in new directions. The most important
question that a leader can ask is, “What if … ?” Possibly the worst thing a
leader can say is, “I know this is a dumb question
• Fairness means dealing with others consistently and justly. A leader must
check all the facts and hear everyone out before passing judgment. He or she
must avoid leaping to
conclusions based on incomplete evidence.
When people feel they that are being
treated fairly, they reward a leader
with loyalty and dedication.
9. •Assertiveness is not the same as aggressiveness. Rather, it is the ability to
clearly state what one expects so that there will be no misunderstandings. A
leader must be assertive to get the desired results. Along with assertiveness
comes the responsibility to clearly understand what followers expect from their
leader.
•A sense of humor is vital to relieve tension and boredom, as well as to defuse
hostility. Effective leaders know how to use humor to energize followers. Humor
is a form of power that provides some control over the work environment. And
simply put, humor fosters good camaraderie.
10. FIVE LEADERSHIP TRAITS
The five leadership traits/leadership qualities are:
Honest.
Forward-Looking .
Competent .
Inspiring .
Intelligent .
Your skill at exhibiting these five leadership qualities is strongly correlated
with people’s desire to follow your lead. Exhibiting these traits will inspire
confidence in your leadership. Not exhibiting these traits or exhibiting the
opposite of these traits will decrease your leadership influence with those
around you.
11. HONESTY AS A LEADERSHIP
QUALITY
People want to follow an honest leader. Years ago, many employees started out by assuming
that their leadership was honest simply because the authority of their position. With modern
scandals, this is no longer true.
When you start a leadership position, you need to assume that people will think you are a little
dishonest. In order to be seen as an honest individual, you will have to go out of your way to
display honesty. People will not assume you are honest simply because you have never been
caught lying.
One of the most frequent places where leaders miss an opportunity to display honesty is in
handling mistakes. Much of a leader’s job is to try new things and refine the ideas that don’t
work. However, many leaders want to avoid failure to the extent that they don’t admit when
something did not work.
There was a medium size organization that was attempting to move to a less centralized
structure. Instead of one location serving an entire city, they wanted to put smaller offices
throughout the entire metro area. At the same time, they were planning an expansion for
headquarters to accommodate more customers at the main site. The smaller remote offices was
heralded as a way to reach more customers at a lower cost and cover more demographic areas.
12. FORWARD-LOOKING AS A LEADERSHIP
TRAIT
The whole point of leadership is figuring out where to go from where you are now. While you
may know where you want to go, people won’t see that unless you actively communicate it with
them. Remember, these traits aren’t just things you need to have, they are things you need to
actively display to those around you.
When people do not consider their leader forward-looking, that leader is usually suffering from
one of two possible problems:
The leader doesn’t have a forward-looking vision.
The leader is unwilling or scared to share the vision with others.
When a leader doesn’t have a vision for the future, it usually because they are spending so
much time on today, that they haven’t really thought about tomorrow. On a very simplistic level
this can be solved simply by setting aside some time for planning, strategizing and thinking
about the future.
Many times when a leader has no time to think and plan for the future, it is because they are
doing a poor job of leading in the present. They have created an organization and systems that
rely too much on the leader for input at every stage.
13. COMPENTENCY AS A LEADERSHIP
QUALITY
People want to follow someone who is competent. This doesn’t
mean a leader needs to be the foremost expert on every area of
the entire organization, but they need to be able to demonstrate
competency.
For a leader to demonstrate that they are competent, it isn’t
enough to just avoid displaying incompetency. Some people will
assume you are competent because of your leadership position,
but most will have to see demonstrations before deciding that you
are competent.
When people under your leadership look at some action you have
taken and think, “that just goes to show why he is the one in
charge”, you are demonstrating competency. If these moments
are infrequent, it is likely that some demonstrations of
competency will help boost your leadership influence.
14. INSPIRATION AS A LEADESHIP
QUALITY
People want to be inspired. In fact, there is a whole class
of people who will follow an inspiring leader–even when
the leader has no other qualities. If you have developed
the other traits in this article, being inspiring is usually just
a matter of communicating clearly and with passion.
Being inspiring means telling people how your
organization is going to change the world.
A great example of inspiration is when Steve Jobs stole
the CEO from Pepsi by asking him, “Do you want to sell
sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to
change the world?” Being inspiring means showing
people the big picture and helping them see beyond a
narrow focus and understand how their part fits into the
big picture.
15. INTELLIGENCE AS A LEADERSHIP TRAIT
Intelligence is something that can be difficult to develop.
The road toward becoming more intelligent is difficult,
long and can’t be completed without investing
considerable time. Developing intelligence is a lifestyle
choice. Your college graduation was the beginning of your
education, not the end. In fact, much of what is taught in
college functions merely as a foundational language for
lifelong educational experiences.
To develop intelligence you need to commit to continual
learning–both formally and informally. With modern
advances in distance, education it is easy to take a class
or two each year from well respected professors in the
evening at your computer.
16. WHAT MAKES A GOOD LEADER?
The leadership qualities that are required to make a good leader can
vary in different companies, teams and situations. They are context-
dependent.
This can be illustrated in both modern leadership models and art. For
example, the fact that leadership qualities are dependent on context is
demonstrated in the play The Admirable Crichton and the film Twelve
O'Clock High - the latter having been used on leadership training
courses for more than half a century.
17. LEADERSHIP STYLE
Autocratic Leadership: Autocratic leadership is an extreme form of
transactional leadership, where leaders have absolute power over their
workers or team
Bureaucratic Leadership: Bureaucratic leaders work “by the book”. They
follow rules rigorously.
Charismatic Leadership: Charismatic leaders inspire lots of enthusiasm
in their teams.
Democratic Leadership: Democratic leaders make final decisions. They
invite other members of the team to contribute to decision making
process.
19. PRESPECTIVE
How you look to develop leadership qualities will depend on whether you are looking at the subject from the perspective
of an organization or an individual. The former is driven by need, the latter by talent. Organizations need leaders who will
support the organizational culture and aims. For them, therefore, leadership development involves:
identifying the leadership characteristics
and/or profile of people who will enhance
organizational performance
selecting/recruiting individuals whose character
skills and potential closely match that profile
developing the particular skills/abilities within
those individuals so they can fulfill their leadership
potential within the organization
That is, you need to:
discover your natural leadership style and qualities
develop those qualities into tangible skills
find a role or organization that matches your
leadership talents, where what you have to offer will be
valued.
20. CONCLUSION
What makes a good leader depends on the organizational context. Developing
leadership potential involves matching individual talents with organizational
need, and building skills that both enhance performance and play to individual
strengths. To investigate this topic further, here are some further readings and
resources:-
The Leadership Qualities Checklist that emerged from our research, showing the
common attributes required of all leaders.
Our Leadership Questionnaire that helps you identify your natural leadership
style, and match it against the leadership demands of various
industries/disciplines.
An article on the Difference Between Leadership and Management.
